Dispensing mechanism



June 13, 1944.

H. F. HAGEMEYER DISPENSING MECHANISM Original Filed July 11, 1939Patented June 13, 1944 DISPENSING MECHANISM Henry F. Hagemeyer, Chicago,111., assignor to Castings Patent Corporation, Chicago, 111., acorporation of Illinois Original application July 11, 1939, Serial No.

Divided and this application March 11, 1941, Serial No. 382,707

Claims.

My invention relates to material dispensing mechanism of a type adaptedto mix powdered material with a liquid and dispensing measuredquantities of the resulting fluid mixture, and more particularly, tomeans for comminuting the powdered material.

For a more complete explanation of my process and the construction andoperation of a machine capable of performing such process, and of whichthe dispensing mechanism disclosed and claimed herein forms a part,reference may be had to my Patent No. 2,291,710 (granted August 4, 1942,upon an application filed February 24, 1941) which is a division of myco-pending application Serial No. 283,868, filed July 11, 1939, entitledImprovements in dispensing machines and process, of which thisapplication also constitutes a division. For this reason, it is notbelieved necessary to set out herein a detailed description of theprocess and the construction and operation of a machine capable ofperforming such process, except that a description of the dispensingmechanism will be made in so far as is necessary to adequately describethe operation of the comminuting means which forms the basis of thepresent application.

In general, the process and the operation of the dispensing machine,capable of carrying out this process, comprises means for delivering apredetermined quantity of powdered material in a downwardly fallingsheet. During the descent of the powdered material it passes throughcomminuting means provided to insure th removal from the downwardlyfalling sheet or the clotting characteristics which such sheet maypossess, without substantial disturbance to the form or shape of thedownwardly falling sheet. The downwardly falling sheet is subsequentlycommingled in a liquid medium and the resulting mixture is thendispensed in measured quantities in to a receptacle or container.

The comminuting means hereinbefore mentioned has been found essential inorder to insure the proper operation of the dispensing mechanism whenthe dispensing mechanism is employed in the process of preparing gypsumbase molds, however there are other uses to which the dispensingmechanism may be employed, in which the clotting characteristics of thedownwardly falling sheet would not impair the success of the dispensingmechanism, and in which the comminuting means may be eliminated.

In the forming of gypsum base molds it is essential that the powderedmaterial, which is employed in forming the mold or mold part, be

free from lumps or clotting. Ii clotting occurs, portions of the moldwill be irregular and the porosity of the cured mold would be impaired.

In order to overcome this difllculty, there has been provided in thedispensing mechanism of my invention, a comminuting means which insuresthe elimination of the clotting characteristics in the powderedmaterial, and operates to flufi the material before it is commingledwith the liquid medium.

The comminuting means of the present invention may, for example, includetransverse wires which will cut through the falling material sheet atrelatively high speed to break up any lumps or clots'therein by theforce of the impact of the lumps or clots against the transverse wires.It is preferred that the wires pass through the falling material sheetin a downwardly direction,

deriving their striking ability from a downward movement faster than thefalling speed of the powdered material. Such operation, as heretoforementioned, will have no appreciable eiiect upon the uniformity of thestream's size and shape, the general course of falling beingundisturbed.

An object of the present invention is to provide means to insure thepowdered material will be free from clots and lumps at the time it comesinto contact with the liquid medium, even though such material may havea tendency to cake or pack.

A further object or the present invention is to provide a comminutingmeans positioned in the path of a sheet of material which is required topass through the said means before being commingled in a liquid medium.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanylngdrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view, partly in vertical section and partly inside elevation, of the comminuting and spray means of my mechanism, and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, and more specifically to Fig. 1, lindicates a portion of a storage bln into which the material to bedispensed is delivered. The storage bin I may be made of any desiredconstruction, such as open at the top to permit manual filling of thebin, or so constructed as to permit automatic filling of the bin bypermitting a conveyor means to pass into and out of the bin or conveyormeans to pass over the open top bin to deposit the material in the bin.

In the lower portion of the storage bin I, there is provided a measuringbelt 2. The measuring belt is composed of equally spaced cross bars orslats 20, having their opposite ends secured to spaced chains 2|. Thesechains are carried by an idler drum (not shown) mounted in the upperportion of the storage bin l and a driven drum 23 mounted just above thedischarge outlet IS in the bottom of bin 1. Suitable mechanism will beprovided to drive the drum 23 at a speed sufficient to move the slats 20rapidly through the body of the powdered material to keep it in a stateof live suspension, so that it will be of uniform and constant densitythroughout the zone of movement of belt 2. As shown in Fig. 2, drum-23extends from side to side of the bin I, to seal the powdered containerportion thereof from the discharge outlet except for the narrow curvedpassage around its periphery through which belt 2 moves.

Not only does the belt act as an agitator for the stored material, butthe equally spaced bars 20 constitute measuring chambers therebetween ofequal size. These measuring chambers are filled with constant densitypowdered material as the belt 2 passes through the upper portion of thestorage bin 2, and as the slats move down closely adjacent to the binwall 3, as shown in Fig. l, the measuring spaces are completely closedbetween the drum 23 and the wall 3. In this way succes sive increments,portions or parcels of powdered material of equal volume are moved fromthe main body of the material in the storage pin to the discharge outletl8. Because of the bending of the belt beneath the drum 23, the outeredges of the adjacent slats are spread slightly apart to free thepowdered material dropped therebetween. It will be evident that sincethe material is kept in uniform density suspension and is moved to theoutlet in increments of equal volume, a definite known weight ofpowdered material, directly proportional to the number of increments,may readily be delivered. Depending upon the time involved during whichit is desired to have such a known quantity of material dispensed, thespeed of belt 2 may be established for bars of a certain width andspaced a certain distance apart. In order to weigh batches of materialwithin slight differences, the measuring chambers should be quite small.The speed of the measuring belt may be regulated to change the rate ofmaterial delivered, and an automatic mechanism may be provided to startand stop the belt as required to dispense batches of any weight.

To prevent powdered material packing between drums 23 and the measuringbelt 2, thus causing the slats 20 to scrape heavily against the wall I,an enabling additional powdered material to be packed into the measuringspaces, scrapers 24 are provided in the entering angle between thedrumand belt to scrape all powdered material from the drum Periphery.

Below the opening ii of bin I, there is positioned comminuting orfluiling means which is employed to break up the lumps or clots in thepowdered material dropped in the freely falling sheet through theopening 18. The comminuting means is housed in a casing 3 attached tothe bottom of storage bin i and covering the discharge outlet. At eachside of the casing 3, preferably ina recess (see Fig. 2) is mounted apair of sprockets 30. Striking elements such as wires 3|, which can bestretched under tension, extend between and are secured to correspondingsprockets of the opposite pairs. These striking wires 3|, are driventhrough the falling sheet of powdered material to strike against theparticles thereof. While the wires may move generally upward ordownward, or even transversely of the material sheet, I prefer that thesprockets turn in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1, so that thewires may move through the powdered material generally in its directionof fall. The speed of the wires in order to strike the material sharplyin such case must be considerably in excess of the falling speed of thepowdered material, but the sheet will not be appreciably dispersed bythe numng operation if the wires pass through it in this manner. 0n thecontrary, where the sheet is composed of a progression of fallingincrements, it will leave this finding mechanism in almost acontinuously uniform sheet. Air pipes 32, delivering air under smallpressure, may be provided to slightly increase the falling speed of thepowdered material over that which it would acquire from gravity, and toprevent powdered material dust collecting upon or blowing up in thecasing 3 after it emerges into the air.

From the casing 3 the fiuffed powdered material will drop in a fallingsheet through spout 33. Spray nozzles 3 will be arranged adjacent to thecasing 3, for dispensing a spray of liquid against the powdered materialsheet to mix therewith. I

The number and arrangement of the nozzles may be varied within widelimits, as explained fully in my heretofore referred to co-pendingapplication Serial No. 380,325, filed February 24, 1941, which maturedinto Patent No. 2,291,710. Preferably the nozzles l are adjustable forpositioning in any one of various positions and attitudes (see Fig. 1).They are carried by a conduit having a ,swivel joint In rotatable toadjust the angle of the nozzles to the falling powdered material sheet.

It will thus be seen that I have provided means for fluillng thepowdered material which is delivered to and dropped through an openingin a bin and which must pass through a commlnuting means before beingejected through an outlet into a fluid medium to be subsequentlydispensed as a mixture of water and powdered material into a container.The flufling mechanism or comminuting means will eliminate all clottingcharacteristics of the falling sheet and eliminate the possibility, whenthe device is used in the process of making gypsum base molds, ofdeformities from being present in the molds.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent' of the United States is:

1. Dispensing mechanism, comprising means for delivering measuredquantities of powdered material in a freely falling sheet, fluflermechanism including two opposite pairs of intermeshing sprockets, and aplurality of wires, constituting striking elements, stretched between.said pairs of sprockets, and means to rotate said sprockets, one of saidpairs of sprockets being adapted to rotate in a clockwise direction andthe other of said pairs of sprockets being adapted to rotate in acounterclockwise direction thereby to drive said wires through the sheetof freely falling powdered material for impacting the particles thereof,to break up any clots in such material and to fluff it, said fiuffermechanism being adapted to receive and expel said sheet without alteringits direction of fall.

2. Means for dispensingmeasured quantities of powdered material in athin elongated freely falling sheet, said means including means forflufling said sheet, said fiufling means comprising a pair of positivelyrotatable overlapping elongated members positioned adjacent one anotherand directly in the path of said sheet of falling material, each of saidmembers having a plurality of wires extending between the end portionsthereof, each of said pair of rotatable members being adapted to berotated at a speed greater than the speed of fall of said powderedmaterial, whereby said sheet of freely falling material is received andexpelled from said rotatable members without materially altering thedirection of fall of said sheet or its general form.

3. A dispensing mechanism for removing clots from and flufling a freelyfalling stream of powdered material, including a pair of rotatablestructures each including a plurality of axially extending spaced apartwires, said structures being rotatable to move the wires of eachstructure through a portion of the path of the stream and certain ofsaid wires intermeshing in the path, and means for rotating saidstructures so that I the wires move in the general direction of thestream when in th path of the stream and at a speed in excess of thefall of material thereby to fiufl' and break up any clots in thematerial without materially dispersing it.

4. A dispensing mechanism for removing clots from and fluiling a freelyfalling stream of powdered material, including a pair of rotatablestructures arranged on opposite sides of the stream, each including aplurality of axially extending spaced apart wires, said structures beingclosely spaced and constructed so that when rotated the wires of the twostructures act upon the entire stream, and means for rotating saidstructures in opposite directions so that the wires move in the generaldirection of the stream when in the path of the stream and at a speed inex- I cess of the fall of the material thereby to fluflf and break upany clots in the material without materially dispersing it.

5. A dispensing mechanism for removing clots from and flufling a freelyfalling stream of powdered material, including a pair of rotatablestructures each having a pair of spaced end members and the structuresmounted on parallel axes and each structure including a plurality ofaxially extending spaced apart striking elements, each striking elementbeing secured at its opposite ends in fixed relation to said endmemberasaid structures being closely spaced and constructed so that whenrotated the striking elements of the two structures act uponsubstantially the entire stream, and said striking elements consistingof members each having a small cross-section area and having a smallarea in the direction of its movement and also in the direction of fallof said material, and means for rotating said structures in oppositedirections so that the striking elements move in the general directionof the stream when in the path of the stream and at a speed in excess ofthe fall of the material thereby to fluff and break up any clots in thematerial without materially dispersing it.

HENRY F. HAGEMEYER.

